Soupy Sales, comedian was 83 *

Born Milton Supman, Soupy Sales became one of the enduring comic faces of 1950s and '60s television. His show, first in Detroit then in Los Angeles, was a hit with kids. This passage from the New York Daily News kind of sums up the appeal:

No true fan can forget the New Year's Day 1965 live broadcast on WNEW.

Sales, miffed at having to work the holiday, signed off by encouraging his young viewers to tiptoe into their still-sleeping parents' bedrooms and remove those "funny green pieces of paper with pictures of U.S. Presidents" from their pants and pocketbooks.

"Put them in an envelope and mail them to me," Sales instructed. "And I'll send you a postcard from Puerto Rico!"

He was then hit with a pie.

Sales died tonight in the Bronx. Here's the video link. [* Update: Video pulled by YouTube. I guess the naked woman had something to do with it. In the meantime, here's a nice obit in the L.A. Times. ]